Umbrella-clasp.



PATENTED JAN. 8, 1907.

A. BAUMG'ARTEN. UMBRELLA CLASP.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16. 1904.

4% 4 wow ALBERT BAUMGARTEN, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

UMBRELLA-CLASP- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 8, 1907.

A rnlication filed August 15,1904. Serial No. 220,765.

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT BAUMGARTEN, a resident of Freeport, in the county of Stephenson and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Umbrella-Clasps, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide improved means for holding an umbrella closed.

The invention consists in the improvements hereinafter set forth, and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of the improved clasp. Fig. 2 is an elevation of an umbrella provided with an improved clasp and showing the manner of manipulating the clasp into position around an umbrella. Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the clasp in position around an umbrella. Fig. 4. is a perspective of a modification.

The improved clasp is formed of a metallic strip A of spring metal, bent into curved shape to fit snugly around an umbrella when the umbrella is closed. At one of its ends the clasp is provided with means whereby the clasp can be secured to the cover B, and between the ends of the clasp an opening a is formed, through which the umbrella can pass into the clasp. Preferably, but not essentially, the clasp is formed of a strip of springwire bent to form a pair of curved portions or strips a, separated from each other to better hold the overlying folds of the cover snugly around the stick and stays. An end portion a connects the curved strips a, secures the ends of said strips in separated relation, and

uides the free end of the clasp around'the olds of the cover.

The clasp is secured to the cover by suitable meanssuch, for example, as a loop or strip of cloth C-which passes through an eye 0 formed by bending the ends of the wire into suitable shape. Loop C is sewed to cover B midway between adjacent stays, so that when the umbrella is closed the clasp will be suspended at or near the corner of a fold of a cover, and so the clasp will snugly hold the overlying corners of the cover.

The wire of the clasp can be twisted, as at a", to render the clasp sufiiciently rigid so the free end will exert sufiicient pressure around the cover folds to snugly retain them and the stays in close relation around the stick.

One of the important. resultant advantages of the invention is the ease with which the clasp can be manipulated into position to hold an umbrella closed. It is now customary to twist the handle of the umbrella with one hand while the other is slipped from the top downwardly until the folds of the cover are tightly wound around each other and the stays. Then a tape secured to the cover is passed around the cover folds and secured into position. While thus securing the tape it was necessary to hold the folds with one hand, and the tape was frequently strained, so it would be torn from the cover. The present invention overcomes these objections. To manipulate the clasp into position to hold. the cover folds, the handle is twisted with one hand, while the other hand is drawn downwardly, as heretofore, to wind the cover snugly around the stick and stays. lation the clasp encounters the fingers or the palm of the last-mentioned hand and is thereby forced or sprung into position around the overlying cover portions and corners and into position around the umbrella, so the clasp by inherent resiliency will hold the umbrella in closed position. Thus the clasp is not only very easily manipulated, but the cover fabric and the clasp attachment are not strained.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the particular construction shown and described, since this can be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventione. g., in Fig. 4 the clasp is shown as formed of a flat strip of spring metal A having a slot (1 whereby it can be secured to the umbrellacover.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with an umbrella, of a resilient clasp secured at one of its ends to the fabric of the umbrella, having a part formed to lie around the folds of the cover to retain them in close relation, and having an opening through whichthe umbrella may be passed into said clasp.

2. The combination with an umbrella, of a resilient clasp secured at one of its ends to the fabric of the cover of the umbrella midway between adjacent stays thereof, having a part formed to pass, and be pressed, around the folds of the cover, and having an opening through which the umbrella can pass into During such maniputhe clasp, said clasp being adapted by inherent resiliency to retain the folds in close relation.

3. The combination with an umbrella, of 5 a resilient clasp having one of its ends se- I cured to the cover between the stays and I having an opening between its ends whereby the clasp may be forced into position around the umbrella by relative twist of one of the 10 parts with respect to the other, said clasp being formed to retain the umbrella closed I when thus manipulated. 1

4;. As an article of manufacture, an um- I brella-clasp comprising a strip of resilient metal, provided with an eye at one end, having a part formed to lie around the folds of the umbrella-cover to retain them in close relation, and having an opening through. which the umbrella may be passed into said clasp, and a loop of flexible material adapted to be permanently fastened to the umbrella and extending through said eye.

ALBERT BAUMGARTEN. Witnesses:

FRED GERLACH, WALTER SCHALCK. 

